This invention deals with a stackable modular display rack for the display of small and/or delicate articles.
There are a fair number of shelving systems and demountable racks illustrated in the prior art. All seek to provide a product that is easily assembled and disassembled in order to move and ship the product. One such system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,883, which issued to Wineman on Mar. 20, 1956 in which there is shown a demountable rack for storing stock and equipment. The system includes shelf sections using upright corner posts which are right angle triangular, tubular sections, which are used to connect the parts together.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,115,253, which issued on Dec. 24, 1963 to Malbin, et al., there is shown a shelving system which is a nested ladder, in which the various shelves are linked together by vertical support posts which are insertable into holes drilled into the shelves themselves.
Yet another shelving system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,406, which issued on Sep. 28, 1965 to Maslow in which a metal clip is used to clip together vertical rods of adjacent like shelving in order to hold the units together.
Still another prior art device is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,533, which issued on Aug. 27, 1974 to Kellogg in which there is disclosed a free-standing shelf system which uses vertical posts to bind the shelves together.
Another device of the prior art is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,528, which issued to Berger on Aug. 31, 1976 in which there is shown a tubular type of display rack assembly having tubular support members joined by coupling means which are tubular configurations affixed to the upright posts, which in themselves have posts, to which are affixed tubular shelving.
One of the closest devices with regard to the instant invention is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,393, which issued on Jun. 6, 1989 to Maye, in which flat shelves, each containing an aperture in each corner thereof, accept a vertical post to support one shelf from the other. It should be noted with regard to this reference, that the device shown therein does not have any provision for binding one modular display stand to another.
There is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,461, which issued on Jul. 11, 1989 to Gilmore, a stackable plate arrangement for microwave dishes, which arrangement is for use in microwave ovens. The shelves are configured to swing on one common post, and rest on two similar posts. There is no provision for binding two or more of these shelves together to form a shelving system.
Finally, there is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,100, which issued to Zich on May 7, 1991, a multi-part shelf which is supported mainly by vertical rods, and in which the various units are held together by what is described by the inventor as an articulation connection, which is a flat plate having two holes in it to provide for the insertion of the vertical rods and their subsequent coupling with either the vertical rod above it or below it.
None of the devices of the prior art provide the benefits of the instant invention.